# The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

**Author:** John Boyne
**Grade range:** Grades 6–9
**First published:** 2010
**Page count:** 228
**Genre:** Children's
**ISBN-13:** `9781409097518`
**ISBN-10:** `140909751X`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/the-boy-in-the-striped-pajamas
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Lines may divide us, but hope will unite us. Nine year old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He’s oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has moved from Berlin to a desolate area where he has no one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel. Shmuel lives in a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence, where everyone wears a uniform of striped pyjamas. Despite the wire fence separating them, the two boys become best friends. As they grow closer, Bruno starts to learn the terrible truth that lies beyond the fence, and what life is like for his friend. John Boyne’s classic novel explores the friendship and loss of innocence of Bruno and Shmuel, during one of the wor

## Where this book is assigned

### Young Reader's Choice Award (PNLA)

- **recommended** · 6th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2009 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 7th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2009 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 8th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2009 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)
- **recommended** · 9th grade — [source: Pacific Northwest Library Association — Young Reader's Choice Award winners (1940-2022), via Wikipedia — 2009 Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Reader%27s_Choice_Award)

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